16 April 2025 - exchange rated

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?"
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

Unlike the woman who anointed Jesus with costly perfume, Judas valued Jesus at the price of a slave (see Exodus 21:32). It was the low amount that the Lord's shepherd was valued by merchants in the book of Zechariah (see Zechariah 11:12-13)¹. Just as the brothers of Joseph sold him to Ishmaelites for a paltry amount of silver (see Genesis 37:28), so too did one of the band of brothers gathered around Jesus betray him for a trivial amount.

At some point Judas became disillusioned with Jesus. And even in our own day we see similar patterns playing out. Someone becomes a disciple with a burst of initial fervor. But over time he discovers that not all is roses and sunshine. Discouragingly, Jesus keeps pointing him to the necessary destiny of the cross. This makes it easy to forgot all that the disciple has in fact received from Jesus and to focus only on whatever present hardships he is facing. Since he did not treasure in his heart the difference Jesus made in his life, since he did not frequently return to him to offer thanks, the enemy was able to remove or at least de-emphasize the memories of his goodness. He becomes more and more forgetful that Jesus makes any difference in his life besides one of unrewarded effort. At this point he may simply walk away. Or he might try various selfish strategies to profit from Jesus, seeking entertainment, or miracles, or even (as scandals sometimes demonstrate) money. But the point is that whatever it was that set Judas on this path is something from which none of us are necessarily exempt. Only if we "praise the name of God in song" and "glorify him in thanksgiving" will we remain safe from the enemy stealing our joy, our peace, and the trust we have in Jesus.

Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
"Surely it is not I, Lord?"

Only if we really realize that we are each capable of betraying Jesus will we rely on him for the stability and strength to remain with him. If it never occurs to us, or if we never bother to ask ourselves, if there is some price, something we can get, for Jesus for which we might hand him over, we may find ourselves doing so almost without realizing it. It might even seem to be the natural choice, better for us, and perhaps even better for Jesus himself. Maybe it will force his hand, making him do what we feel he should be doing but is not. But the betrayal of Judas did not provoke Jesus into taking military action against the Romans. And he won't be manipulated by us either. But if we are willing to realize our own weakness we become able to avail ourselves of the Lord's strength.

The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

A dire end, even condemnation in hell, can start from what appears to be a good beginning. This means we ought take nothing for granted, that we should heed Saint Paul and, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling", not as though it all depended on us, which would only increase the likelihood that we turn traitor, but rather remembering that "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (see Philippians 2:12-13)  

1) Mitch, Curtis; Sri, Edward. The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture): (A Catholic Bible Commentary on the New Testament by Trusted Catholic Biblical Scholars - CCSS) (p. 333). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

 

Matt Maher - Lord, I Need You